The Stealth Hippopotamus:These are the same sad sacks that rubberneck at car accidents "hoping" to see the pain and suffering.

When we were visiting London, we just got done watching the Changing of the Guard (they totally changed, guys!), and we were walking around the back of Buckingham Palace toward the horse stables. There were a bunch of ambulances and police in the street, and they seemed to frantically be working.

Even my group I was with (my wife and her friend, both nurses, and her friend's husband) started stopping to get a better look. I took a quick glance, saw a guy half under the front bumper of a car, lots of blood, and two medics performing CPR.

Now, I've been a medic for a few years now. I'm kind of immune to the shock value of it at this point, and seen enough of it on the job that I didn't even think twice about not looking. Just turned my head, grabbed my kids before they could see anything, and kept moving past the now mostly stationary crowd. To my dismay, even my wife and the others were now transfixed with the drama, as the police started grabbing sheets to hold up around the medics while they worked and gave the victim a little privacy. I had to actually call out to get my party moving, and they admitted later that they didn't even really realize they were stopping to watch.

We are just built that way, unfortunately. We are empathetic animals, and very curious, and want to see the worst moments imaginable for some reason. I may have trained my monkey brain out of this habit after years of work, but there is no denying it as an inescapable and tragic part of our human nature. But at least in this case, or the case of a random accident out on the street, it just kind of is there. It's not something you went out of your way for to see, you know?

THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

RedT:THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

How would that solve the problem? Most gawkers are going to gawk once and unless there's some kind of word-of-mouth gawker network I'm unaware of...

People want to see unusual shiat. Such is life. Next time ask them for donations or something. I certainly understand how you would be in a negative mood, but being so actively hostile seems a little uncool.

RedT:THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

let obama save you, pray to the meshiacha for help.you voted for him now own it

// one of the first responders to help was the LDS church not FEMA, we couls hav hd a mormon in charge of FEMA and it would have finaly worked. But no the East and left coast wanted free stuff, this is just how Rome started to fall when there is a mushroom cloud over the city i will point and laugh. we just have to sit in our blue states and tend our gardens then wait it out.

TXEric:Diogenes: jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I, on the other hand, would probably put on a little show for them.

I would as well.If, by "a little show", you mean letting them have the experience of staring down the muzzle of an AR-15 as I clicked the bolt release shut...

That actually would be a good idea for the SUV crowd. But the tour buses will come, and they don't stop off to visit.

jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I know how that sounds, but she's right. You can't really know the feeling until you've spent the day staggering around the remains of everything you've ever owned, trying to decide what to keep and what to pile in the mound at the curb, as tourists drive by and snap pictures of your lowest moment in life. It's like being fed on by ghouls.

Jument:RedT: THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

How would that solve the problem? Most gawkers are going to gawk once and unless there's some kind of word-of-mouth gawker network I'm unaware of...

People want to see unusual shiat. Such is life. Next time ask them for donations or something. I certainly understand how you would be in a negative mood, but being so actively hostile seems a little uncool.

Pardon me for being "uncool" but I was sorting through everything I owned trying to determine what could be saved and what (the great majority of it) needed to be tossed.

As "uncool" and "negative" as I might have been perceived by the helpful curiosity seekers who wanted to memorialized the ruins of everything I worked for, once I expressed my sentiments they sure left in a hurry and that made me feel better and less negative.

RedT:Jument: RedT: THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

How would that solve the problem? Most gawkers are going to gawk once and unless there's some kind of word-of-mouth gawker network I'm unaware of...

People want to see unusual shiat. Such is life. Next time ask them for donations or something. I certainly understand how you would be in a negative mood, but being so actively hostile seems a little uncool.

Pardon me for being "uncool" but I was sorting through everything I owned trying to determine what could be saved and what (the great majority of it) needed to be tossed.

As "uncool" and "negative" as I might have been perceived by the helpful curiosity seekers who wanted to memorialized the ruins of everything I worked for, once I expressed my sentiments they sure left in a hurry and that made me feel better and less negative.

Such is life. What you value is not valued by others.

In the end you picked up the pieces and moved on, regardless of what other people did.

namegoeshere:Hey NYC Farkers: do you have any idea to what extent the NYPL (library) has been affected? I'm waiting for something from them which should have been here by now. If they're having storm related problems, I don't want to pester by following up on it - I can wait until things are better. If they're functioning normally, though, and just dropping the ball, it's time for a sternly worded email.

Oh yeah, the billions of dollars in storm damage and displaced families take a back seat to my missing library materials...

Srsly though, I wish all affected a speedy recovery.

depends on what you're looking for I guess. The main branch in Midtown should have been untouched by the storm

That actually would be a good idea for the SUV crowd. But the tour buses will come, and they don't stop off to visit.

jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I know how that sounds, but she's right. You can't really know the feeling until you've spent the day staggering around the remains of everything you've ever owned, trying to decide what to keep and what to pile in the mound at the curb, as tourists drive by and snap pictures of your lowest moment in life. It's like being fed on by ghouls.

sethen320:TXEric: Diogenes: jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I, on the other hand, would probably put on a little show for them.

I would as well.If, by "a little show", you mean letting them have the experience of staring down the muzzle of an AR-15 as I clicked the bolt release shut...

No you wouldn't.

Yeah, I just thought it sounded cool...

Would be cool to have a "nuetered" 40mm BOFORS mount out front, with a motion detector and tracking system, just for the lulz, tho... People pull up, the guns give a little "bzzzzzt..." and start tracking them.

Probably would cut down a LOT on rubberneckers for the short time before the Feds showed up.

TXEric:sethen320: TXEric: Diogenes: jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I, on the other hand, would probably put on a little show for them.

I would as well.If, by "a little show", you mean letting them have the experience of staring down the muzzle of an AR-15 as I clicked the bolt release shut...

No you wouldn't.

Yeah, I just thought it sounded cool...

Would be cool to have a "nuetered" 40mm BOFORS mount out front, with a motion detector and tracking system, just for the lulz, tho... People pull up, the guns give a little "bzzzzzt..." and start tracking them.

Probably would cut down a LOT on rubberneckers for the short time before the Feds showed up.

sethen320:TXEric: sethen320: TXEric: Diogenes: jaylectricity: "The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Oh my god, put on your big girl panties and man the fark up.

I, on the other hand, would probably put on a little show for them.

I would as well.If, by "a little show", you mean letting them have the experience of staring down the muzzle of an AR-15 as I clicked the bolt release shut...

No you wouldn't.

Yeah, I just thought it sounded cool...

Would be cool to have a "nuetered" 40mm BOFORS mount out front, with a motion detector and tracking system, just for the lulz, tho... People pull up, the guns give a little "bzzzzzt..." and start tracking them.

Probably would cut down a LOT on rubberneckers for the short time before the Feds showed up.

Ok. It would be entertaining.

Definitely.On second thought, I'd probably put it in a neighbors' yard, tho...

sethen320:RedT: Jument: RedT: THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

How would that solve the problem? Most gawkers are going to gawk once and unless there's some kind of word-of-mouth gawker network I'm unaware of...

People want to see unusual shiat. Such is life. Next time ask them for donations or something. I certainly understand how you would be in a negative mood, but being so actively hostile seems a little uncool.

Pardon me for being "uncool" but I was sorting through everything I owned trying to determine what could be saved and what (the great majority of it) needed to be tossed.

As "uncool" and "negative" as I might have been perceived by the helpful curiosity seekers who wanted to memorialized the ruins of everything I worked for, once I expressed my sentiments they sure left in a hurry and that made me feel better and less negative.

Such is life. What you value is not valued by others.

In the end you picked up the pieces and moved on, regardless of what other people did.

On the other hand, he will forever live in the minds of those gawkers as "that crazy obscenity-screaming dude who chased us off that one time". ;)

I certainly empathize. Wandering through the ruins of your home would be horrible. Being observed at that time would feel a bit rape-y. But I don't think yelling at people is really the answer.

Jument:sethen320: RedT: Jument: RedT: THIS was the most infuriating thing after my house got flooded. We live at the end of a dead end street with only two houses on it (the other house is my mother-in-law) so it was irrefutable that the drive-bys weren't just gawking.

Took til about day 3 before I just started flipping them off and screaming things like "Come on in! You wanna see all my ruined shiat!?!".

Seriously, I was in no friggin' mood, but that did actually seem to solve the problem.

How would that solve the problem? Most gawkers are going to gawk once and unless there's some kind of word-of-mouth gawker network I'm unaware of...

People want to see unusual shiat. Such is life. Next time ask them for donations or something. I certainly understand how you would be in a negative mood, but being so actively hostile seems a little uncool.

Pardon me for being "uncool" but I was sorting through everything I owned trying to determine what could be saved and what (the great majority of it) needed to be tossed.

As "uncool" and "negative" as I might have been perceived by the helpful curiosity seekers who wanted to memorialized the ruins of everything I worked for, once I expressed my sentiments they sure left in a hurry and that made me feel better and less negative.

Such is life. What you value is not valued by others.

In the end you picked up the pieces and moved on, regardless of what other people did.

On the other hand, he will forever live in the minds of those gawkers as "that crazy obscenity-screaming dude who chased us off that one time". ;)

I certainly empathize. Wandering through the ruins of your home would be horrible. Being observed at that time would feel a bit rape-y. But I don't think yelling at people is really the answer.

Honestly I would think that the scale of the work would mean that I was simply too busy to even bother with what anyone else was doing.

So some driver from a cut-rate haulage company loses control of his dump truck and sends it sideswiping into the concrete Jersey barriers on the highway median, hard enough to launch him into the air and come down in such a way that rips his front axle clear off and crushes his engine block. (fortunately, that's ALL he hit). Thankfully, he's not carrying any cargo-but his 100 gallon diesel tank is ripped to shreds and so is his engine and transmission oil pans.

I'm part of a company that is contracted to go out and clean up the mess.

Obviously, the truck isn't going anywhere under its own power, so a crane is brought in to pick up the hulk and lift it, in entirety, onto a lowboy trailer. For this, half the freeway lanes need to be closed, causing a massive jam-up as it is.

As the crane is making the lift, some idiot STOPS DEAD to gawk. What is supposed to be a four lane freeway became two, with predictable results-then this rubbernecker has just made it ONE. It only took a sharp word from a cop to shake him out of his gawking, though...can't imagine how out of control it is when you have thousands of square feet of disaster, attracting rubberneckers like seagulls to a garbage heap.

mike_d85:Dinodork: We had hundreds of them after the Waldo Canyon Fire came through my neighborhood this past June. They should have been shot along with the looters.

Where's that?

Colorado Springs. Here's an example of what they were trying to see, the remains of the Flying W Ranch. I took this while working this August doing slope stabilization to keep the mountain from sliding down into my neighborhood.

gilgigamesh:Not that I believe in Karma, but I wonder how many of these Long Islanders took part in one of the disaster junkets to New Orleans' Ninth Ward that are still to this day driving those folks nuts.

None of us that actually are human beings with feelings, I assure you.

/spent lots of time and effort trying to help the folks 'down the gulf. It made me very sad to see it all, but made me happy I could do something

Click your heels together and keep repeating that. But come up here and deal with some of Sandy's wrath and you may think differently.

/if i were you i wouldnt recommend coming up here with that 'pansy' shiat unless you want a lot of beatings all-in-a-row//not from myself, i have no effort, strength or time to waste so i focus on fixing whats wrong instead of pitchin-a-biatch, and whiny judgmental folks aint worth my time

Jument:I certainly empathize. Wandering through the ruins of your home would be horrible. Being observed at that time would feel a bit rape-y. But I don't think yelling at people is really the answer.

He really should have taken the time to beckon them over and explain in a calm, even tone why he felt that what they were doing was... while not exactly wrong, somewhat rude, and then kindly ask them to leave and during that long drive home, engage in some introspection of their own upon the idea of compassion.

Or he could throw a farking wrench at the farking mouthbreathers and go about his day.

Dinodork:mike_d85: Dinodork: We had hundreds of them after the Waldo Canyon Fire came through my neighborhood this past June. They should have been shot along with the looters.

Where's that?

Colorado Springs. Here's an example of what they were trying to see, the remains of the Flying W Ranch. I took this while working this August doing slope stabilization to keep the mountain from sliding down into my neighborhood.

[i171.photobucket.com image 850x637]

I'm not to fond of the gawkers.

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

sethen320:Dinodork: mike_d85: Dinodork: We had hundreds of them after the Waldo Canyon Fire came through my neighborhood this past June. They should have been shot along with the looters.

Where's that?

Colorado Springs. Here's an example of what they were trying to see, the remains of the Flying W Ranch. I took this while working this August doing slope stabilization to keep the mountain from sliding down into my neighborhood.

[i171.photobucket.com image 850x637]

I'm not to fond of the gawkers.

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

I thinkI understand what you mean, I'll try to explain the two situations (not trying to start shiat either, this is good discussion material). In our case, the gawkers were merely looking, and tying up/blocking traffic on the only route into the burn area. Many were also taking "souvenirs" which up until recently were parts of peoples houses/property.

In the case of the gawkers in NY/NJ etc, I'm sure a lot of the same things are going on: getting in the way of people with legitimate reasons to be there, becoming potential drains on resources (someone will get hurt, require an ambulance, etc) and in general be disrespectful to the residents that have lost so much.

As for my photo, I also see your point, if it were taken while under similar circumstances. Instead, it was taken months later, after the area had been already made less hazardous. There were restrictions to ge into the area, and it was taken during a brief break by myself after busting my ass on a crew installing 26 erosion control structures that day. It's really apples and oranges.

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

I thinkI understand what you mean, I'll try to explain the two situations (not trying to start shiat either, this is good discussion material). In our case, the gawkers were merely looking, and tying up/blocking traffic on the only route into the burn area. Many were also taking "souvenirs" which up until recently were parts of peoples houses/property.

In the case of the gawkers in NY/NJ etc, I'm sure a lot of the same things are going on: getting in the way of people with legitimate reasons to be there, becoming potential drains on resources (someone will get hurt, require an ambulance, etc) and in general be disrespectful to the residents that have lost so much.

As for my photo, I also see your point, if it were taken while under similar circumstances. Instead, it was taken months later, after the area had been already made less hazardous. There were restrictions to ge into the area, and it was taken during a brief break by myself after busting my ass on a crew installing 26 erosion control structures that day. It's really apples and oranges.

I see what you mean.

I definitely agree with the fact that even though it is "useless junk" to you, it is NEVER OK to take things from a disaster area. Even if it looks completely totalled, it's still someone elses property and they may want it for some reason.

I didn't realize the timing of your photo, sorry for the dumb question.

Dinodork:In the case of the gawkers in NY/NJ etc, I'm sure a lot of the same things are going on: getting in the way of people with legitimate reasons to be there, becoming potential drains on resources (someone will get hurt, require an ambulance, etc) and in general be disrespectful to the residents that have lost so much.

Something that I hadn't thought about before this latest "state of emergency" is the order to stay off the roads if travel isn't absolutely necessary. I always thought it was because they didn't want you driving around in stormy conditions. But somebody (probably here on Fark) was saying it wasn't because of the driving. It was because there was a chance you might break down or crash, clog roadways, require additional assistance while all the resources should be dedicated to the actual emergency.

I wanted to take a tornado tour where I would go with a group and a guide to see a tornado with my own eyes. Then I thought about it: I might see Someone's life ruined or they could die. And I would be standing there excited to see a tornado. I realized that was a shiatty thing to do. I will never disaster gawk unless I am there to phsically help with clean up. It's cruel.

I used to see those people after every hurricane out in Kitty Hawk, NC. One year I finally said "fark it" and did a bunch of custom screen printed t-shirts. They just had a line-art drawing on the back, an overhead view of the Outer Banks with a quick & dirty copy of the radar image from the incoming hurricane. In big block letters on the front, I put...

HURRICANE FRANSeptember 1996

I got the blank shirts as leftovers from a closed printing business. I designed and printed them myself. Total cost in materials, about $350. I set up a little stand on the only open road into town, with a sign out front that said

Hurricane Fran T-shirtsProfits Donated to Storm Relief

I sold out (250 shirts at $18 per shirt) in less than two days, mostly to disaster tourists. I kept $600 for myself to cover time and materials, and donated the rest. I pretty much split the donations evenly between a local animal hospital's "free treatments for injured pets" program, a local food bank, and the Red Cross.

StoPPeRmobile:sethen320: Dinodork: mike_d85: Dinodork: We had hundreds of them after the Waldo Canyon Fire came through my neighborhood this past June. They should have been shot along with the looters.

Where's that?

Colorado Springs. Here's an example of what they were trying to see, the remains of the Flying W Ranch. I took this while working this August doing slope stabilization to keep the mountain from sliding down into my neighborhood.

[i171.photobucket.com image 850x637]

I'm not to fond of the gawkers.

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

I'm not trying to start shiat with you, but what exactly is the difference between merely looking at a disaster scene and taking a picture of it?

I thinkI understand what you mean, I'll try to explain the two situations (not trying to start shiat either, this is good discussion material). In our case, the gawkers were merely looking, and tying up/blocking traffic on the only route into the burn area. Many were also taking "souvenirs" which up until recently were parts of peoples houses/property.

In the case of the gawkers in NY/NJ etc, I'm sure a lot of the same things are going on: getting in the way of people with legitimate reasons to be there, becoming potential drains on resources (someone will get hurt, require an ambulance, etc) and in general be disrespectful to the residents that have lost so much.

As for my photo, I also see your point, if it were taken while under similar circumstances. Instead, it was taken months later, after the area had been already made less hazardous. There were restrictions to ge into the area, and it was taken during a brief break by myself after busting my ass on a crew installing 26 erosion control structures that day. It's really apples and oranges.

Hey Dino, I used to live over on Echo Lane (2006-07). Hows it look out theah?